Time for presents!

The Dent Men - Cole was the one who soiled his shirt with dinner and cake...we don't normally wear snowman shirts in August - make no mistake, it's hot here :)

All 4 of us

This play phone from Mimi has been a big hit

The older kids were happy to help unwrap presents, but Tyson got a little of the action too.

Homemade T-Ball

Cole has loved baseball - bats, balls, gloves, the whole bit - for awhile now. A few days ago we went to a friends' house to play and they had a little t-ball stand, bat, and ball that Cole loved. When we got home he set up his lincoln-log box, balanced his ball on top of it, and said, "Momma, look at this!" Clever little fellow :).

Winding up

Swing and a miss!

Contact!

We have to work on one of the fundamentals of the game..."Keep your eye on the ball"...notice his eyes are closed in both pictures where he actually hits the ball. Baby steps...

Let me outta here!

Tyson likes to watch the neighbor boys go down the zipline that runs through our back yard. I try to tell him he better stop eating so much or by the time he's old enough to ride it he'll exceed the weight limit. Those thighs aren't getting any smaller...

He just smiles and giggles. What a little chump.

Fashion Tips with Cole

If you don't like what your mother dressed you in, cover it up. I recomment carrying around large armloads of animals to hide embarrassing shirts.

If you want to slouch your pants but your Mama won't let you, try this trick. Slouch one pair of your little brother's pants, AND wear a regular pair that covers your hind end. Everyone's happy!

It does make playing a bit harder, but you gotta sacrifice for fashion.

"That's better"

Tonight, after 45 minutes of reading books with Cole, I told him it was time for bed. I grab his cup and head for his room. He comes, weeping, behind me. Usually he says he doesn't want to go to bed, but it's not a meltdown. I try to calm him down and finally he controls himself enough to say "I want to ___". He repeats it over and over while I rack my brain trying to remember what this word might be that he's using. Finally he says it a little clearer. "I want to race." "You want to race to bed?" "Yah," he says. So we come back out to the living room, turn around, and race back to his bedroom and of course he wins. We get to his bed and he says quietly to himself, "There, that's better," and hops in bed.

Go Daddy Go!

Daddy plays church softball in the summer and fall, and one day Miss Page said she would watch me since Tyson goes to bed too early for Mama to take me to the games. So I went and had a grand time watching the game and playing with Freeman and Evan. The next day I told Mommy, "Momma...we say 'Go 'Deemer!'...that's what we say at the baseball game...and we say 'Go Daddy Go!'...We say that at the baseball game too. Go 'Deemer! Go Daddy!" (for clarification, "'Deemer" is Redeemer, our church). I was VERY proud to tell Momma what Miss Page taught me at the baseball game.

Is Mama scary?

Cole gets scared relatively easily, especially if we're rough-housing with him. I was playing with him one day, not doing anything scary, and he started whining. "What's wrong?" I ask. He pouts out, "Mama's being scary." "No, Momma's not scary. Come on, we're just playing." He comes back vehemently, "Yes, she IS scary!"

I think he's going to be a doctor...maybe a plastic surgeon

Potato Heads accoring to Cole...maybe he should be a podiatrist...the feet are the only things in the right spot on all 3.

Clowning around

Riding the horse that my great-Grandpa hand-made.

When Momma's in the shower I try to keep Tyson productively engaged...

Nana gave me a train table that works to play ON and UNDER. I would like to point out that I did NOT do the artwork on the underside...I'm much too mature for that.

One of my favorite things to do..."Silly Videos!!" Watching America's Funniest Videos with the big guy and the littlest guy.

"Mommy, look at my band-aids!"

For some reason Mommy chuckled when I told her to "look at my band-aids!" Then she reminded me that they're called "silly bands." Whatev...they're still cool and I still got them on my wrist by myself...and I still call them band-aids.